Northern Thailand News
Northern Thailand news, Chiang Mai news, business, tourism, and culture—stay updated with breaking stories, local events, and travel insights from Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Pai, and beyond. Get the latest from The Thaiger, your trusted Northern Thailand news source.
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Thailand is a great place for expats and retirees, offering a warm climate, affordable living, and rich culture. However, healthcare can be tricky for foreigners since they aren’t eligible for public health coverage, and private care can be expensive. Private...
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Murder-suicide in north east Thailand
A man has shot his pregnant stepdaughter dead and then committed suicide at a house in the northeastern province of Buriram. The stepdaughter had just married her husband 7 days before the incident. Relatives have refused to provide additional details to the media at this stage. Yesterday, an emergency team from Hin Lek Fire Police Station was called to a…
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Thai cult’s food products tested – feces, bacteria and mould detected
An update on the hidden cult commune in the Isaan province of Chaiyaphum… Local health authorities found the cult was operating a food businesses and seized all of the products for further investigation. The test results showed that the food samples from the group contained excessive amounts of mould, Coliform and bacteria, usually found in feces. At the start of…
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Flooding situation worsening in Chiang Rai, waters recede in Chiang Mai
The flooding situation in easing in the northern province of Chiang Mai, but getting worse in neighbouring Chiang Rai. That’s according to a Thai PBS World report, which says the levels in several Chiang Rai waterways have been rising steadily since yesterday, as a result of heavy rain on Saturday. The Chan River has burst its banks in Chiang Rai’s…
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Man in northeast Thailand stabs wife on train
A man in northeast Thailand stabbed his wife on a train yesterday, after suspecting she was romantically involved with another man. Police said the woman, 31 year old Ratchanok Yimsa-ngob, had decided to go and live with her grandmother in a different district of Nakhon Ratchasima, and the couple was headed there on the train. Along the trip, Ratchanok and…
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Stolen gold found scattered in northern Thailand
After a robber stole several pricy items from a gold shop earlier this week, police found 7 trays of gold ornaments in the middle of a river in northern Thailand’s Tak province. Local people showed the gold to police after they spotted it on an islet in the middle of Ping River in the main city district. The locals also…
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Health and safety a priority as kids return to Bangkok schools after two turbulent years
The Thailand Ministry of Education yesterday allowed schools to reopen their doors for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic hit the nation in 2020 in line with the government’s transition to living with Covid as an endemic disease. Some children celebrated their return to school in style in Tak province, northern Thailand, taxied in by elephants, as reported in…
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Students ride elephants to school in northern Thailand
Some might take a bus, others ride their bike, some will walk. But some Thai kids arrived at school via elephant this morning in Tak province, northern Thailand. Today was the first day of nationwide on-site classes in Thai schools after almost two years of online, remote studying. To mark the occasion, parents from Baan Ya Por School in Phob…
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6 million baht worth of gold stolen in Northern Thailand
Police are on the lookout for an armed robber who fled the crime scene with nearly 6 million baht worth of gold from a Big C Supermarket in Tak, Northern Thailand, on Sunday. The robber burst into the popular superstore, withdrew a handgun, demanded cash and several trays of gold jewelry, before making his escape on a white Yamaha motorbike…
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In Chiang Rai, monk novices receive condoms as an offering
Teen novice monks in northern Thailand’s Chiang Rai province received some rather unholy offerings in their alms bowls, according to another monk at their temple. The monk posted on Facebook last week saying that the novices found condoms in their alms bowls. The monk, Phra Chingchai, believes someone might have snuck the condoms in the bowls because there are many…
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UPDATE: Authorities find Isaan cult also selling food and snacks online
Following the report on the raid of the hidden cult compound in the Isaan province Chaiyaphum last week, authorities visited the make-shift for a second time and found they were also operating a semi-commercial food business to make a living. The ‘cult’ distributes food products like chilli paste, fermented fish and snacks but without registration with the Food and Drug Administration,…
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Police expand investigation into 11 bodies found at Isaan temple cult
Police are widening their investigation into a cult at a temple in north-eastern Thailand, where 11 bodies were kept. According to a Bangkok Post report, the bodies were discovered during a raid on the temple in the Khon San district of Chaiyaphum province. A 75-year-old man, named as Tawee Nanra, and allegedly the cult leader, has been arrested. Bail was…
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Man steals ฿300,000 from his stepmother and gives it away “to make merit”
A man from the Isaan province of Buriram allegedly stole ฿300,000 from his stepmother because he wanted to “make merit” by giving it away. He gave away ฿109,000 cash at a local market and bought products valued at ฿200,000 which he gave away to locals for free. CCTV footage shows 39 year old Wuttisak sitting on a motorbike and spreading…
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Thai cult raided, 11 corpses found, followers urged to consume leader’s waste
Police and residents in the Isaan province of Chaiyaphum, together with Thai media, have raid the ‘secret’ make-shift compound of a cult hidden in the middle of a rice paddy field after one victim complained that the cult leader “imprisoned followers” and urged them to “consume human waste”. Thai media reported that 11 unidentified corpses were found inside the compound,…
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Store owner in northern Thailand donates school uniforms to needy families
As Thailand plans to reopen schools on May 17, a store owner in Northern Thailand’s province of Nakhon Sawan is donating old school uniforms to families who don’t have the money to buy their own. The store owner said that this is the second year the donation handout has been organised. He said that last year, there was a similar…
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Man in northern Thailand found dead under palm tree
A man in the northern Thai province of Phitsanulok was found lying dead under a palm tree this morning. The man’s relatives told police he had left his home early in the morning to tap palm milk, as he did every day. They got worried when he didn’t come back at 9am, so they went to search for him, and…
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Jealous husband shoots wife, then turns gun on himself in Nakhon Ratchasima
In Nakhon Ratchasima, northeastern Thailand, a vendor was shot by her jealous husband, who then shot and killed himself at the Tor Chok-anan fruit stand at Suranaree market. The police found a .38 gun at the scene. The wife, 43 year old Anong, was discovered face down in a pool of blood when police arrived at the scene. She was…
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Officials warn of upcoming storms in several regions of Thailand
Officials are warning of thunderstorms, gusty winds, and even hail in Thailand’s north, northeastern, central, and eastern regions. This includes the Bangkok area. Last night parts of the city were presented with an impressive thunder and light show to welcome in the start of the annual wet season. The Thai Meteorological Department says that from May 1-2, a moderate high-pressure…
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Boxing champion joins Thailand’s Palang Pracharath Party in Khon Kaen
A big name in Thailand’s boxing scene has now joined Thailand’s Palang Pracharath Party, and will represent the next election in Constituency 10 of the Khon Kaen province. The boxer, 49 year old Somrak Khamsing, won a gold medal in the US in 1996. After he retired from boxing, he became an actor. He then moved into politics. The Palang…
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Isaan province Khon Kaen maintains alcohol curfew at 9pm starting May 1
Last week the CCSA meeting agreed that Thailand provinces in the Blue and Yellow zones could serve alcohol until midnight (an hour later than the earlier curfew set at 11pm). However, the provincial governor of the Isaan province Khon Kaen believes it wouldn’t be safe for his residents and has decided to renew the alcohol curfew at 9pm starting on…
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Thai authorities warn of jail time for catching or selling protected geckos
Rumours in Thailand saying geckos can sell for up to 1 million baht, depending on their size, might actually be true. Many Thai people have caught and sold geckos as a full-time job. But now the nation’s gecko hunters and sellers have to be more cautious since the authorities issued a warning, saying some geckos are on the wildlife preservation…
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Young Thai woman missing for 1 year makes contact with family
A Thai woman who was filed as a missing person over a year ago made contact with her elder sister on Friday. The 23 year old, from the northeast province of Buriram, reportedly said she broke off contact with her family because she didn’t want them to find out that a Phuket debt collector was chasing her for 100,000 baht.…
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UPDATE: Autopsy indicates political activist ‘likely’ to have committed suicide
Following a report on the mysterious death of a political activist and finance officer of the Move Forward Party, the autopsy indicates he died due to a lack of oxygen. His mother has conceded that her child could have committed suicide, but she still couldn’t think of any reasons why he would have done so. The body of 27 year…
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UPDATE: Daughter has contacted missing family, police suspect economic hardship
Following the report on the missing family in the central province of Sukhothai, Thai media has updated the story that the daughter has been able to contact her family today and everyone was safe. However, she didn’t share more details about where her family was or why they had been impossible to contact. Police speculate that it may have been…
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Thai policemen accused of faking crimes to advance their careers
A woman has claimed a group of 17 police officers in the Isaan province of Amnat Charoen invented a ‘fake crime’ involving her to advance their careers. She claimed she had been working as a ‘spy’ for the local police for more than 20 years. But the officers wanted to get promoted, so they conspired with her, insisting that the…
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Political activist and Move Forward member found hanged in north-east Thailand
A member of the Move Forward political party, who disappeared on Monday, has been found hanged in the north-eastern province of Nakhon Ratchasima. Thai PBS World reports that the body of 27 year old activist Anan Lokate, aka “Boy”, was found hanged by a police kiosk in the district of Chaloem Phra Kiat yesterday. The secretary-general of the Move Forward…
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Thai robber who stole gold valued around 4.5 million baht caught
A gold robber, 28 year old Kittipong Phaethaisong, has been caught in Pattaya today, April 15, in a hotel after stealing gold necklaces valued at about 4.5 million baht in Nakhon Ratchasima, northeastern Thailand earlier this week. He told police the motivation for the crime was that he was unemployed and short on cash. The police have already found several…
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Two Thai women escape sinking car after GPS leads them into a canal
Another GPS horror story occurred this morning when 2 women driving home for the Songkran holiday ended up trapped in their sinking car in a canal in Prachin Buri province, northeast Thailand. Their GPS navigation system led them off the edge of the road, causing their car to drop 10 metres and land in a drainage canal. The women managed…
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Gold valued around 4.5 million baht stolen in Nakhon Ratchasima – VIDEO
A gunman has stolen gold valued at 4.5 million in the form of gold necklaces at a Lotus supermarket in Nakhon Ratchasima in northeastern Thailand. He ambushed the shop yelling… “This is a robbery. I have a gun.” The incident was caught on camera, and nobody was hurt during the heist. Other gold heists have not ended peacefully. Many Thai-style…
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48 ‘restaurant’ goers test positive for drugs in Northeast Thailand
48 ‘restaurant’ goers tested positive for drugs in Khon Khaen province in Thailand’s Northeast in the early hours of this morning. Police found 62 customers in the restaurant. Apart from food, they found alcoholic drinks and packets of crystal methamphetamine on the tables. Empty packets were found in trash cans. Officers from Ban Pet police station had been tipped off …
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Man shoots and kills hospital patient in Thailand’s Northeast
A man shot and killed a hospital patient in Pak Khat district of Bueng Kan province in Thailand’s Northeast yesterday. Police arrested the 21 year old shooter, and he remains in custody during the investigation. A video posted on social media shows an armed man in a blue T-shirt, entering the hospital’s emergency room. The man is then seen shooting…
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